McDonald’s workers describe rampant harassment, workplace groping and suggestive comments
This week, McDonald’s employees in eight states filed ten sexual harassment, assault, and retaliation complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. A recent analysis of government data done by the Center for American Progress revealed that food service workers are three times more likely to file a harassment complaint as higher paid workers are. A different survey done by Hart Research Associates in 2016 showed that 40 percent of women fast-food workers said that they have had unwanted sexual encounters at the workplace, including groping and lewd comments. A charity called Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund was launched in January to help low-income workers report sexual harassment in the workplace. The fund has raised $21 million dollars from roughly 20,000 donors. Employees at independently owned franchises could be more at-risk of abuse, according to some employment lawyers. A large majority of some 14,000 U.S. McDonalds outlets are independently operated by franchisees.
See "McDonald’s workers describe rampant harassment, workplace groping and suggestive comments", Danielle Paquette, The Washington Post, May 23, 2018